KHAZANAH SIAPA PEDULI?

@rozanasbatik story - 'ngomel' on collecting, narratives, stories, mythmaking and 'endgame' minus the Avengers.

Few friends from outside the art circle used to ask me, "Hasnul, can you honestly tell me what do I really get by going to a gallery?" Especially going to a gallery that shows someone's art collection. Like, whats the point?"

I replied, "well...nowadays, if you are unlucky, you get trashes". 

"If Im lucky?"

"You get a treasure of values beyond the politics of ownership & mythmaking."

"How so?"

"Here's how. The tangible dimension of a collection refers to the physicsl objects being collected, evaluated, inventorised, indexed, stored, preserved, conserved, curated & exhibited. But more important than the tangible dimension is the intangible dimension. That has to do with tested knowledge embodied & related to the artworks. Tested means extensively researched, written about, discoursed, debated, not 'ngumpat2 ckp2 berbuih atas angin for mythmaking'. 

Knowledge carries and transmits values beyond ownership & mythmaking. It grows beyond forms. It carries intangible values that give meanings to our lived experiences. These values can be experienced as a flow of 'fikir & rasa' - like two streams that meet to form a narrative or story. 

Real authentic values - love, compassion, grattitude, honesty, happiness and many more complex 'inner softwares', cant be bought. But we can experience and be them. We go to a gallery to experience and be these intangible values. They are our 'amanah'. The amanah is the endgame of collecting. Its beyond mythmaking. The amanah is real. Its priceless.

"What do you mean by priceless?"

"It represents our true collective treasure or 'khazanah'!"

(A curator is the one who cares - a caretaker of values, the 'pemegang amanah'. A curator transmits intangible values of a collection through knowledge embedded in a narrative, engagingly & cohesively presented. The narrative can be made of stories - weaved nicely from personal, communal, national, regional to global stories. Personal story behind Rozana Mohamed's batik painting can be accessed from Kebun Jiwa Halus blog.)